Asian-Style Carnitas

This Asian spiced inspired slow cooker recipe has its origins from the Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas) recipe, which was adapted from the Mexican Pulled Pork recipe at America’s Test Kitchen. Their original premise was to develop a recipe that did involve lard or deep frying to produce the carnitas’ crispy outside. Their solution, after oven-braising the pork in a Dutch oven (this recipe uses the slow cooker instead), was to use the broiler after coating the pork with a reduction of the remaining liquid and fat. The method works great and I’ve modified their technique to use the barbeque grill instead of the broiler to get a smokier flavor incorporated into the pork. The resulting carnitas are soft on the inside and a crispy brown on the outside, with that distinctive smoked flavor from the grill. The condiments are also Asian inspired with spicy Sriracha sauce adding a distinctive spicy hot kick to the dish.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

 

4  lb.	2 kg.	Boneless pork butt or country-style spareribs with ⅛-inch (3 mm.) fat cap, cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (syun3, 蒜), lightly crushed
2 slices	2 slices	Ginger (goeng1, 薑), lightly crushed
1	1	Dried date (can4 pei4, 蜜棗)
1	1	Dried tangerine peel (mat6 zou2, 陳皮)
2 whole	2 whole	Star anise (baat3 gok3, 八角)
1 stick	1 stick	Cassia bark (gwai3 pei4, 桂皮) or cinnamon
¾ oz.	20 g.	Rock sugar (bing1 tong4, 冰糖) – 1 piece
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Thick (soeng6 zyu1 jau4, 上珠油) or dark soy sauce (lou5 cau1, 老抽)
½ cup	125 ml.	Soy sauce (si6 jau4, 豉油)
½ cup	125 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (siu6 hing1 zau2, 紹興酒) or dry sherry
4+ cups	1+ l.	Water to cover the pork in the slow cooker
6 in.	15 cm.	Corn tortillas

 

Condiments

1 stalk	1 stalk	Baby bok choy (siu2 baak6 coi3, 小白菜), cut into ¼-inch (7.5 mm.) pieces
½ bunch	½ bunch	Cilantro (jyun4 sai1, 芫茜), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
2 stalks	2 stalks	Green onions (cung1, 葱), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
		Hoisin sauce (hoi2 sin1 zoeng3, 海鮮醬)
		Sriracha hot chili sauce

 

Equipment

3.5 in.	9 cm.	Soak-out cooker to hold the spices in the slow cooker
6.5 qt.	6 L.	Slow cooker (crock pot) to cook the stew
		Slotted spoon
		Pot to reduce the braising liquid
22.5 in.	57 cm.	Covered charcoal or gas grill (or larger)
		Large spatula

 

Pork Slow Cooker Instructions

These steps should be started in the morning so that the pork is ready for grilling in the afternoon.

1. Put the lightly crushed ginger and garlic, dried tangerine peel, dried date, star anise, cassia bark or cinnamon stick, and rock sugar into the soak-out cooker. Put the soak-out cooker into the slow cooker.
2. Cut the pork into 2-inch (5 cm.) chunks and put them into the slow cooker. Don’t remove any of the fat, as this is an important component for the braising liquid. You want the pork pieces to be larger than smaller since the pieces will eventually be grilled on the barbeque.
3. Add the water and soy sauce to the slow cooker. If thick soy sauce is being used, it needs to be incorporated into another liquid, so put the thick soy sauce into a bowl, add the Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, and mix the ingredients together before adding it to the slow cooker. If using dark soy sauce, just add the dark soy sauce and Shaoxing wine or dry sherry directly into the slow cooker.
4. Cook the pork on low heat for up to 6 hours in the slow cooker.

Condiment Preparation Instructions

1. Wash and cut the baby bok choy into thin ¼-inch strips.
2. Wash and cut the cilantro and green onions into ½-inch pieces.

Grill Preparation Instructions

1. You want to time the grill’s readiness to coincide with the completion of the pork in the slow cooker. You want to place the coals in one-half of the grill or use half the gas burners in order not to burn your hands since you need a cool area on the grill to move and manipulate the pork while it’s cooking. Prepare the charcoal or gas grill for direct cooking following the manufacturer’s instructions. Light the charcoal or preheat the gas grill accordingly.
2. If using a charcoal grill, arrange the lighted coals to one-half of the kettle to leave enough room to move the pork to the half that has no coals. For a gas grill, follow the manufacturer’s instructions as to which burners to leave on for direct cooking.

Pork Grilling Instructions

1. Remove the soak out cooker from the slow cooker and discard the contents. Using a slotted spoon, remove and transfer the pork from the slow cooker to a bowl, being careful to keep the pork pieces intact as possible. This can be harder than it sounds since the pork is very tender at this point.
2. Transfer the braising liquid from the slow cooker into a pot, and reduce the liquid over high heat, stirring frequently until it’s thick and syrupy. The reduced liquid serves as the flavoring agent for the pork. Do not remove the fat from the liquid since the fat helps to crisp the pork on the grill.
3. Pour the reduced liquid into the bowl with the pork. Mix the pork and reduced liquid to evenly coat the pork pieces. It’s all right if the pork pieces break up a little while mixing (increasing the pork piece’s surface area means more grilled crispiness), but not so small that they will fall through the grill grate.
4. Take the bowl with the pork to the barbeque grill and pour the entire contents evenly onto the hot side of the grill. Be careful of any flare-ups as you pour the pork onto the grill due to the remaining fat coating the pork. Spread the pork evenly on the hot side of the grill using a large spatula. You can further break up (pull) the pork pieces as you spread them over the grill to maximize the surface area for crisping.
5. Cover the grill to allow the smoke to flavor and to crisp the pork for about 5-10 minutes. Uncover the grill towards the end of the cooking time to maximize the heat in order to crisp the pork. You will get flames, so control any flare-ups so as not to excessively burn the pork.
6. Using a large spatula, flip the pork pieces over to smoke and crisp the other side of the pork for another 5-10 minutes covered. Be very careful of any flare-ups at this stage, since the fat will be dripping onto the hot coals. Uncover the grill towards the end of the cooking time to maximize the heat in order to crisp the pork. Control any flare-ups as not to excessively burn the pork.
7. Remove the smoked crispy pork from the grill and place in a bowl. Serve immediately with corn tortillas (which can be warmed on the grill) and the condiments (baby bok choy, cilantro, green onion, hoisin sauce, and Sriracha).